Friday Night Lights episode 15, “Black Eyes and Broken Hearts”

As someone who does a little scribbling for living — although never something as complicated as a TV script — we have to admit that we’re worshiping at the feet of the writers of this week’s episode. So many great scenes, so little time…

It never fails to amaze how new, well-crafted characters keep showing up up in every episode. This week, it was Mac McGill, the assistant coach who set off all the furor with the black kids over his Campanis-esque comments. The scene where McGill comes to Coach Taylor’s house to resign (and we didn’t recognize Mac at first because he wasn’t wearing a rumpled cap and jacket) may be one of the best this season. Perhaps it’s just being middle-aged and in a similar situation, but to hear him spill his guts to Coach — about growing up in a different era, about being a simple guy who likes to work in the yard and play bridge, about being a coach who was passed over for his dream job — well, it left us a little misty-eyed. So did the moment at the end of the show, where Smash figures out what the cops wanted, and what Mac did.

And for once, Coach’s Wife from the Movie was wrong about something, as she suggested (in the multiple-personality guise of counselor, coach’s wife and “just a friend”) that Coach Taylor fire Mac. Well, she’s now batting about .995 in the decisions division, still the leader, and now her character is more interesting, too.

There was a nice touch in the scene where the radicalized Smash is lifting weights in the back yard and talking to the Peacher’s Daughter — did you notice That Look on Smash’s Mama’s face? You just had a feeling she was going to straighten things out, and she did.

We were glad to see the return of Landry for this episode; he’s like the combination of the angel and the devil that used to sit on cartoon characters’ shoulders and give them all kinds of conflicting advice. (Saracen even sounds like Elmer Fudd from time to time, too.) Heaven knows, Coach Taylor ought to be encouraging Coach’s Daughter to go out with Saracen, since it beats the heck out of hanging around with Tyra and getting busted for being in the Landing Strip.

Oh yeah, there was a game this week, too, a playoff whipping of the fightin’ Cardinals of Dunston Valley (portrayed by the easy-to-identify Del Valle Cardinals). Having seen a high school football game or three, we’ve been to those contests where the refs keep the flags in their pockets, especially in the playoffs. But we’ve never seen anything like that brawl, not in 20-plus years, and certainly never in a playoff game. But the show needed the dramatic moment — spurred by the briefest of “language warning” insults, one that went by so quick we had to rewind it — to pull everything together. Rest assured, that foolishness with the cops chasing down the bus does happen, and that, of course, led to Mac’s redemption.

Highlight

It happened as everyone filed off the bus — which, we were suprised, wasn’t pelted with rocks at Dunston Valley — after the game. Smash, who had a clue about what was going on when the police pulled the team over, stopped in front of his nemesis, Mac McGill.

“Hey Mac, what happened back there with those cops?” he asked.

“They made a mistake, son, just like I did,” Mac replied. “See you at practice Monday.”

That look on Smash’s face was just about perfect.

DVR moment

A quick flick of the wrist and we spotted the latest “celebrity” business in Austin, the jewelry store where Landry drags Saracen to buy a make-up gift for Coach’s Daughter. If you want to drive by, it was Gold Creations, at 2159 South Lamar, but don’t blink because it’s pretty small. A woman who answered the phone there — not the same friendly woman who was in the scene, but a friendly one nonetheless — said the scene was shot about a month ago, and the little shop was enjoying its brief fling with celebrity.